This is an expression that a reader has asked me to write about.
‘The buck stops here’ is a promise that responsibility will not be passed on to anyone else.
U.S. president Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk saying, ‘The buck stops here.’
Truman didn’t coin the phrase, but it went into dictionaries from about 1952 because of his popularising it.
Fred M. Canfil, United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Truman’s, saw a sign like it while visiting the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma in 1945.
He thought it would appeal to Truman and had a copy of it made and sent to him.
The expression comes from the game of poker.
Players were highly suspicious of possible cheating.
To avoid unfairness, when the deal changed hands the person next in line to deal would be given a marker.
This was often a knife with a handle made of buck’s horn—hence the marker was known as ‘a buck.’
When the dealer’s turn was over he ‘passed the buck’.
The dramatic contrast to ‘the buck stops here’ is found in our own political leaders.
When told about the tragic lifestyles (and deaths) of little Aboriginal children in West Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, ‘That’s a state problem.’
No, it’s not.
Following the 1967 referendum, under the constitution Aboriginal welfare is vested in the federal government, not the states.
But Albanese seems incapable of accepting responsibility for anything.
Unlike Harry Truman, Albanese’s tactic is to always ‘pass the buck.’
Victoria’s Ben Carroll is just as bad.
Asked about the appalling state of Victoria’s roads he said, ‘I’m not the roads minister.’
But he is the premier, and responsible for the whole state.
A responsibility he refuses to accept. Just like his friend Albanese he ‘passes the buck.’
Tonight I will join John Stanley for 'The Word Clinic' on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC and the Tapt Radio Network -- right after the 10pm news (9pm in Queensland).
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
